Despite long odds, Evan Dunham considers UFC 95 win imperative

If UFC newcomer Evan Dunham (7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) were to fall short in his debut for the organization at Saturday’s “UFC 95: Sanchez vs. Stevenson” event in London, it would be understandable to the casual observer.

Having fought less than a month ago, taking the fight on just two weeks’ notice, fighting outside of the U.S. for the first time and in front of the biggest crowd he’s ever seen would all be reasons to grant Dunham a free pass.

But as Dunham recently told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), he’s not interested in anything less than a win.

“I look at it as imperative to get a win here,” Dunham said. “I don’t go take a fight with any assumption that I’m going to lose in any fight I take. I train that way, and I think that way.”

Dunham stepped up on short notice when lightweight David Baron was forced off the card due to an undisclosed injury. The newcomer will take on Swedish lightweight Per Eklund (14-3-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in the event’s opening bout.

Dunham said he was elated to get his shot to prove himself in the world’s largest MMA organization.

“I was ecstatic when I got the call,” Dunham said. “I was at the gym. My manager gave me a call and said, ‘You’ve got a chance to fight in London in the UFC in two weeks. How soon can you get down to Las Vegas?’ I said, ‘I can be in Las Vegas by tonight.’

“I just went home and booked a ticket right away and got down [to Xtreme Couture] that same night. I started training early the next day.”

Dunham admitted he was a bit surprised at how early in his career he was getting his chance in the UFC, but he feels well prepared. Despite taking the fight on such short notice, the lightweight said he was still in great shape from a January submission win at a Palace Fighting Championship event.

“It hasn’t quite sunk all the way in, but it’s getting there just because I had to pick the level of training way back up even though I was still in pretty good shape from that last fight,” Dunham said. “It hasn’t sunk all the way in, for sure. It’s a big opportunity, a big chance, and I’m just trying to get a good grasp on it. But I think I’ll be ready and good to go by Saturday.”

Of course Dunham would have taken the fights whether he was feeling healthy or not. He didn’t even bother to find out who he was fighting before saying, ‘Yes.’

“It was definitely, ‘I’ll take the fight,'” Dunham said. “‘It doesn’t matter who it is.'”

Now that he knows he’ll be facing Eklund, Dunham said he feels comfortable with the matchup.

“I know Per Eklund’s got a good ground game,” Dunham said. “He’s also got decent stand-up and wrestling, but his main attribute is definitely the ground. But I’m not too shabby on the ground myself.

“I’m actually looking to keep it standing and to play with him a little bit on the feet — sprawl and brawl and take it to him that way. If it ends up on the ground, it’s fine with me because I feel comfortable on the ground. It’s just going to be a matter of me imposing my game upon him instead of letting him impose his game on me. That way I’ll win.”

Dunham hasn’t known anything but victory in his near two-year career. The Oregon resident and Xtreme Couture fighter has earned five submission victories in his seven career bouts while remaining undefeated.

And despite the huge step up in competition and exposure, Dunham feels his teammates have him ready for the challenge.

“I’ve been talking to a lot of guys at the gym who have had this experience before, fighting in the UFC,” Dunham said. “I’ve talked to them a little bit, and they’ve just told me to look at it as another fight, which I’ve tried to do.

“I’m not trying to think about all the hype that comes with a fight at this level. I’m just going in there thinking it’s just another fight, just another day at the office — and try not to get myself worked up about it.”

White it’s easier said than done when reaching the pinnacle of the sport, Dunham said it is a mindset that he has used throughout his career that will assist him in staying level-headed.

“I just try to take one fight at a time and to not look too far down the road,” Dunham said. “I just focus on what’s ahead of me. As long as I’m doing that, I’m keeping my mind in the right place and not worried about what’s going to happen in a month or what’s going to happen in two months. I’m just worried about what’s going to happen now and what’s going to happen in my next fight. That way I’m always prepared for the current situation.”

While Dunham’s current situation may be considered an uphill climb by most observers, the young fighter won’t accept anything less than another addition to his undefeated run.

“To me, a loss is devastating,” Dunham said. “I don’t want to lose. To me, it’s imperative that I win this fight.”

And though Dunham won’t know until Saturday night if he’s able to maintain his unbeaten run, he is willing to give one guarantee about his performance.

“If you watch my fight, you’re guaranteed to see a fighter go in and put his heart and soul and everything he’s got out there and leave it all out on the mat, as we say,” Dunham said. “I just hope to gain fans that way and be known as a fighter who gives it his all and will never stop.”

The Latest

Since the early days when the sport was anything but a mainstream endeavor, the MMA industry has thrived and survived through various websites, forums and, perhaps most importantly, social-media platforms.

In this week’s Trading Shots, Danny Downes and Ben Fowlkes look at Ronda Rousey’s 34-second victory over Bethe Correia at UFC 190 and try to put it into terms that capture the moment without getting swept away by it.

A total of 26 fighters got their chance to shine on Saturday as part of UFC 190 at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena. Now that UFC 190 is in the books, it’s time to commence MMAjunkie’s “Three Stars” ceremony.

The man known for cranking submissions to the point of injury added eye-gouging to his repertoire. But is the controversy of Rousimar Palhares too essential to his bizarre, awful appeal for his employers to take any meaningful action against him?